Zandalee (1991)

Not as good as I remember.

Zandalee, Zandalee, Zandalee.

Where do I start? Well, I watched this movie on cable a couple of times when I was still a child, and I remember it being a good but forbidden movie. I decided to buy the movie before it became obsolete and enjoy a smut classic. But watching it as an adult has shown me one thing: it's bad in every way. From the bad Louisiana accents to the narcotics inspired acting by Nicolas Cage to the pedestrian acting by Ericka Alexander to the silly script writing. It's very bad. Even the s/ex scenes are not as good as I remembered: a couple come off as rape scenes, which will always be dangerous considering how many confuse rape with consentual desire already. I guess my changing view about Zandalee says a lot about the eyes and mind of a 12 year old versus that of a 25 year old.

Bottom Line: No wonder the film has been conveniently forgotten by those who had anything to do with it. December 13, 2006

Sexual Politics in Pre-Katrina New Orleans

The natural order of the world we live in says that girls want to be domestic and guys want to spread their seed. Often times these biological urges get people into trouble, usually with the guy cheating on the girl (see: Ryan Phillippe). But there is an X factor in that order, and that is that the girl gets bored. This usually happens when the flame goes out in the marriage and the guy focuses his energy on making money while the housewife has little choice but to become desperate. Enter a dangerous artist (Nicolas Cage) into the equation and you have the makings of a domestic melodrama, although in this case it is a fairly good one. The husband in question Thierry (Judge Reinhold) is basically just a Southern suit who has so lost his soul that he has even given up writing. His wife Zandalee (Erika Anderson) is a free spirit who has an encounter with Johnny (Cage) and decides that it is time for an upgrade.

The film follows a predictable story arch. The artist is more sexy and interesting than the suit so the girl becomes more and more addicted to him even though she knows it is not in her best interest. Thierry starts off playing dumb, then falls into a sort of militant denial, before deciding that he has to win his wife back. Director Sam Pillsbury has lots of fun playing with these stereotypes, but is ultimately tied to them. That these characters represent caricatures from our daily lives works in providing us with a morality tale, but prevents it from being anything more than a mildly good film. The directing itself is pretty pedestrian as he hits every note every other hack director would have hit had they directed this film. The writing comes and goes, but when it goes it goes down hard. Some lines are so dated and miss by such a wide margin they could have been discards out of Fonzie's playbook. What does put it over the top is all the fun it is having. Niolas Cage gives an inspired, over the top performance looking like an escapee from "Grease." We have naked women, a motorboat speeding through the swamps of Louisiana, a tortured artist, Reinhold hamming it up in a miscast role, a rape in a church, and Marisa Tomei sticking her tongue in Nic Cage's ear. How can you say no that?

In the end Pillsbury comes out against both Thierry and Johnny, and that is fine but who does that leave the Zandalee's of the world with? By cutting out corporate yes men and tortured artists you are eliminating two of the main types of guys that girls go for. But who really thinks anybody is listening to this film anyways? Just enjoy it for what it is. It may not be anything Tennessee Williams would be proud of, but it is fluffy commercial dreck served up on an appetizing platter. It was made before films were paranoid about offending anybody so be forewarned: If you are afraid of minor violence, open sexuality, or bad screenplays you are urged to stay away. I personally am glad I watched as yet another girl came between yet another set of guys. Now if she could just keep their names straight her life would have turned out so much better. ***1/4
November 5, 2006

It's trash but it's good trash

While in New Orleans 13 or so years ago, we noticed that a movie was being shot in Jackson Square. A really beautiful actress was jogging through the Square and a bunch of mimes and street people were doing their thing in the back ground. A couple of years later, planning a return trip to NO, I picked up Zandalee in the rental place. We immediately noticed that it was the movies we had seen being made. So, maybe that makes me give it a better rating than if I had just rented it with no "connection" to the movie.

I agree with almost every review that the girl is breathtakingly beautiful, her husband is pathetic and Johnny is a scary loser. You wonder why in the world Zandalee would even speak to him much less have sex over and over with him. That said, the scene early in the AM with Johnny working on the garbage truck and her panties hitting the ground is about the sexiest thing filmed especially since you see nothing further in that scene.

I suppose the ending is almost a requirement but the movie would have been better without it.

If you love New Orleans and its sleasiness and can handle a seemingly normal young woman having a mindless affair with a loser, this is a great movie. We own the VHS version and watch it at least every year or so. Usually, we cut it off right before the end. The sex/love scenes are very good if not explicit enough to rate an X. This is the movie Nicolas Cage never admits to having made. August 16, 2005

TACKY SEX DRAMA...

Nicolas Cage was either broke (or whatever) when he made this New Orleans filmed trash. There's no other excuse. He plays a "tortured artist" flinging with the wife of a friend (Judge Reinhold). She is Zandalee (Erika Anderson). Zandalee---what a name. Zandalee loves to----and she likes it as often as possible. You see, she's a "free spirit" and her hubby's a bore. No stretch for Reinhold. But no matter who's naked or how often this is an awful movie. Not even worth the one star. It's so bad I watched it going "oh BROTHER". There is no acting in this movie. Just really bad dialogue spoken by the ones being paid to do so. Marisa Tomeii is somewhere in this mess too. But who cares. It's all pointless. Directed by someone named Sam Pillsbury. October 27, 2002

Erika Andersen makes this movie

She IS Zandalee, the sexy and sex-starved creature who propels this tragic story of lust and betrayal. Wow, this actress captivated me when I saw this in theatres eleven years ago. Beauty and talent and loads of sex appeal. Friends and I would debate whether she or Carre Otis (Wild Orchid) were the hottest babes on screen at the time.
Judge Reinhold is her mopey and inevitably cuckolded husband, Thierry. Zandalee yearns for a full and satisfying sex life with Thierry but he is too wrapped up in his own repression to appreciate the glorious gift that is (literally) dancing naked right in front of him.
On the scene comes Johnny (Nicolas Cage), a sleazy old friend of Thierry's who takes full advantage of Zandalee's sexual frustration. She is at first standoffish and untrusting, but caves in to her compelling need and allows Johnny to seduce her and ravish her in the most inappropriate places (like on the freezer in the pantry while Thierry and another dinner guest are chatting in the dining room). The sex with paint scenes are also good, an idea later copied (and abused) by the movie Luscious. I was torn between loathing the treacherous Johnny and eagerly anticipating his next liaison with the beautiful Zandalee.
The French Quarter location and Bayou scenes give great flavor to this movie. Also the assortment of character players whom I can now look back at and say, "Oh, that was him or her!"
Someone else mentioned the great Cajun-sounding score by Pray for Rain, which truly did enhance the exotic mood in the movie. A pity it was never released as a soundtrack. August 1, 2002

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